Cooperate on tweaking Obamacare

Cooperateon tweakingObamacare

Copyright 2013: Houston Chronicle |
February 17, 2013

The nation's social media were lit up with instant analysis and opinion from every side within milliseconds after President Obama uttered the last words of his State of the Union address last Tuesday evening.

Once that chatter dies down, we hope all concerned, especially members of Congress, will give the address a careful second look, to see where opportunities to work with the president can be found.

We have a suggestion for a topic that needs some thoughtful agreement on a tight deadline: much-needed tweaks to the Affordable Care Act before it becomes law in January 2014.

For Republicans, this means moving beyond the idea that Obamacare can somehow be stopped. That's a fool's errand, given the U.S. Supreme Court ruling and the re-election of President Obama.

For Democrats, this will mean acknowledging that the 2,700-page bill passed into law with nary a single Republican vote is far from perfect. Some of the imperfections are costly.

And so, we encourage both sides to use the next few months to fine-tune the Affordable Care Act in ways that improve it.

Some suggestions with which we agree:

1 Allowing the sale of insurance coverage across state lines to increase competitiveness and reduce premium costs.

1 Reasonable tort reform that will balance the rights of patients to redress grievances with the costs excessive litigation have historically added to medical care.

1 A clearer definition of health benefits under the ACA that is also leaner and thus less costly.

1 Expansion of the availability of catastrophic coverage from ages 30 and under to include all ages.

We're sure there are more, but this is a start.

When Jan. 1, 2014, arrives, let's have Obamacare in the best shape it can be to meet the health care needs of America while keeping costs down.